Two years ago I almost got my stuff together and built a CNC, sadly, "her indoors" got wind of it decided I'd be having far too much fun and shot that one down. But! The good news is after serious amounts of sucking up ans no small amount of sacrifices to the gods I'm back in the game although 2 years out of date with everything I knew, which is a lot less than what I remember!

The very good news is that the CNC gods have smiled twice on me and October will find me in Shanghai with a driver and a professional, native haggler / interpreter! <very large grin>

A 2.2kw water cooled spindle seems to be a wise investment from what I've read while trolling through 24 months of unread threads, but I may have to leave that for another trip as the budget is still being "negotiated"!

The previous plan I had, used gecko G540, the bed size was to be X30 Y20 Z6 inch or there abouts, what ever the nearest sizes to those numbers are...

To work with wood, brass, plastics and engraving pcb / alloy for sure, cutting alloy would be nice but not essential.

So my question (Finally!) is as I have less than a month before I go, is there anything I should look at researching first?

Hmm, Linear motors rather than ball screw might actually be the first thing I check out...

Any thoughts most greatfully welcomed.

mocha

08-09-2011, 10:13 PM

Hi chip, I would complain more, but it only annoys her! :-)

Ricardoco

08-09-2011, 10:14 PM

So my question (Finally!) is as I have less than a month before I go, is there anything I should look at researching first?

.

:naughty:Well the first thing to research is the size of your bag!! is it big enough for the items on my shopping list:rofl:

Welcome back mocha.:smile:

mocha

08-09-2011, 10:40 PM

lol, funnily enough, I've already got an empty case ready!

John S

08-09-2011, 11:03 PM

When I go to China I dump all my clothes for the trip back.
What's the point of bringing dirty washing back when a pair if jeans can be got for from ASDA for £6, the suitcase space is worth far more than that.

Think about bringing the electronics thru, they weigh less than motors etc Drivers can be had for about $20 - $25, breakout board for $10, motors are about $20 as well each.

mocha

11-09-2011, 12:51 AM

After reading John's comment about the case space, I thought I'd better look up how much space I'd actually have to play with! turns out, if I've read it right... I get up to 3 suitcases of 32kg before they sting me... :-) Oh and found out today that I can have indirect access to lathe, milling and welding facilities. :-))

But for the moment, it's back to Jones on stepper motors!

mocha

29-09-2011, 06:32 PM

after my exploration of motor mounts and bearings, I have been exploring "domino theory" and something called "a box of frogs"...

It all started easily enough, a supported rail bearing was for 16mm rather than 25 on the sketchup ramblings, I'll just fix that. Oh, 82mm wide with hole centres at 65, that's not going to fit, I'd better move the mount, and that means I have to move the support, which means it doesn't line up with the vertical... Domino theory in action! by the time I had got 5 steps down the implications, it had all turned into a box of frogs.